A delegation of catholic bishops of Pakistan will visit the school, convent and three churches that were attacked on November 12 at Sangla Hill, Nankana Sahib district. The bishops will lodge a first information report (FIR) against the people suspected of being behind the attacks. They demanded an independent judicial inquiry into the matter. The delegation of two to three bishops will visit the school, convent and churches today and a black day will be observed on November 17. Missionary and Christian schools will remain closed on that day. Bishops from various churches, representatives of missionary groups and several non-government organisations (NGO) strongly condemned the attacks. The Catholic Church, Church of Pakistan, National Council of Churches, Salvation Army and National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) held an emergency meeting at Lahore and demanded action against the accused so that Christians are protected in Pakistan. The meeting said that such incidents were well supported by discriminatory laws and minorities would continue to fight to repeal discriminatory laws. Bishops of catholic and protestant missions sent a letter to President General Pervez Musharraf, demanding the government take action against the attackers. âThis sad incident reminds us of Shanti Nagar Village, which was burnt to ashes,â said the statement issued by National Commission for Justice and Peace Executive Secretary Peter Jacob, adding that such incidents had led to Christiansâ insecurity. Catholic Bishopsâ Conference of Pakistan President Lawrence J Saldanha condemned the attacks and said that extremist leaders were responsible for this act of terrorism.
âWe call for an impartial judicial inquiry into the allegations against a Christian for desecrating the Holy Quran, which resulted in the attacks,â he said. He said that the role of law enforcing agencies and local leaders should also be looked into. Compensation should be paid for the damages, he said and urged Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to visit Sangla Hill to determine the magnitude of destruction. He said that Christians were a peaceful community and they had participated in the October 8 earthquake relief operations. The protestant bishop of Lahore, Dr Alexander John Malik, said that the allegations against the Christian did not mean that people could take the law into their own hands. The bishop said that police had been told about the attacks but they did not respond properly. He said that a Lahore High Court judge should look into the matter and the culprits should be brought to justice.